Wayne Firestone Named President of Genesis Prize Foundation

The Genesis Prize Foundation, the operating entity for the Genesis Prize, announced today that Wayne L. Firestone has been named its President. The annual $1 million Genesis Prize will be awarded to an accomplished, internationally renowned individual from anywhere in the world who is a role model in his/her community and who can inspire the younger generation of Jews worldwide. The inaugural Genesis Prize will be awarded in the spring of 2014 in Jerusalem by the Prime Minister of Israel. Firestone assumes his post on April 29th.

Mr. Firestone brings eight years of experience as the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Hillel, the largest global Jewish student and emerging adult organization serving campus foundations and affiliates at more than 400 universities in ten countries. Prior to the Hillel post, he was the founding Executive Director of the Israel on Campus Coalition, and oversaw the broad coalition of national Jewish organizations to advance pro-Israel standing on college campuses. Mr. Firestone was also a founding director of the Project Judaica Foundation in Washington, DC, designed to preserve, rehabilitate, exhibit and disseminate all forms of Judaic culture.

In his role, Mr. Firestone will work with a prestigious selection committee of judges that includes Elie Wiesel and Natan Sharansky set to announce the laureate in the fall of 2013. Firestone will also initiate a global campaign targeting young Jews in their 20s and 30s, providing inspiration and a historical and cultural connection to the next generation of leaders.

Chairman of the Genesis Prize Advisory Board and former President of Brandeis University, Professor Jehuda Reinharz said of the appointment, “Wayne’s visionary leadership has inspired and empowered thousands of young Jews around the world to be partners in a prideful Jewish future.”

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